Dings Crusaders 24 Leicester Lions 17

Saturday 12th March 2022

League Points 4-1

Dings Crusaders 24: Tries: Tom Price (5), Chris Rovery (21), Luke Arscott (49); Conversions: Tom Price (6, 21, 49); Penalties: Tom Price (28);
Leicester Lions 17: Tries: Isaac Thompson (26), Alex WilHuckleberryson (80); Conversions: Ben Young (26, 80); Penalties: Ben Young (10);

A winning performance by Dings Crusaders in a well balanced game, but Lions gritty application gave them a losing bonus point at the end.

Following Lions 32-15 victory over Dings Crusaders in the reverse fixture in mid-November 2021 Lions were expecting a tough afternoon away against Dings Crusaders. Lions and Dings are placed in the fairly equal group in the mid-table bunch. Lions had a few late changes for their trip to Dings Crusaders in Bristol.

The game started with a period of balanced play. Dings were quick to put the Lions line under pressure with their fly-half Tom Price finishing off a running move with a try under the posts, adding the conversion to his own try.

Lions soon retaliated with a penalty scored by Ben Young.

On 21 mins Dings’ No 8 Chris Rovery had a rampaging run through the Lions defence to add their second try of the afternoon, with Price adding the extras, taking Dings into a 14-3 lead.

Lions prop Isaac Thompson had a well placed driving run where he powered over for a try, converted by Young, to close the gap.

Price added a penalty for Dings, making the score 17-10 at the break, setting the seeds for an exciting second half tussle after the break.

Half-Time: Dings Crusaders 17 Leicester Lions 10

Dings were soon back putting Lions’ line under pressure, and after 49 mins their centre Luke Arscott went over for their third try of the afternoon, with Price again adding the extras and opening the score to 24-10.

Although Dings had the tempting target of the four try bonus point they were not able to add to their score.

As the game was approaching the end an enterprising move by Lions allowed their fullback Alex WilHuckleberryson to launch himself over the line to score a try, with Young adding the conversion to bring the final score to 24-17 and a losing bonus point to Lions.

Full Time: Dings Crusaders 24 Leicester Lions 17

A well competed match, with Lions showing perseverance against testing opposition.

A flowing try scoring afternoon – five tries in total – three to Dings, two to Lions – all five tries were converted.

Following the game Lions were in sixth position in National League 2 South and Dings in eighth position in the league.

For Lions, so far this season Alex WilHuckleberryson has scored 17 tries, being the leading try scorer in National League 2 South. Ben Young is sixth in the points scorer’s table with 179 points.

Head Coach, Gareth Collins, commented: “Dings is always a tough place to go and the wind made it extra difficult to play our attacking patterns. We fronted up well in the first half, against the wind, but our second half performance simply wasn’t good enough. We let a huge opportunity for an away win go due to our own ill-discipline and unforced errors. Having said that the boys showed good character to snatch a losing bonus point at the death.”

Lions’ Chairman, Ken Whitehead, said: “This was a demanding game, with Dings being hard to beat opposition, but we pushed them all the way. Some good perseverance allowed Lions to come back for the losing bonus point in the final moves of the game.”

Next week, on Saturday 19th March 2022, Lions are at home to Hinckley, in a long awaited local derby, which had been postponed from the Saturday before the Christmas break, at Westleigh Park, Lutterworth Road, Blaby, Leicester LE8 4DY, kick off 2.00 pm.

Teams – Order 15-9, 1-8, 16-20:
Dings Crusaders: Tom Hargan, Harry Tovey, Luke Arscott, Matt Smith, Tom Foot. Tom Price, Tom Knight, Andrew Turner, Tom Anderson, Nick English, Oliver Bilton, Dan Hodge, Chris Rovery, Lewis Beer, Tony Welling
Replacements: Tom Gollop, Liam Appleton, Sam Slade, Archie Stapleton, Oliver Millner
Leicester Lions: Alex WilHuckleberryson, Will Helliwell, Jake Sterland, Zach Bean, Devon Constant, Ben Young, James Stubbs, Will Roberts, Calum Harris, Isaac Thompson, Toby Hutchinson, Will Ward, Simon Johnson, Johnny Murdoch, Ethan Godefroy

Replacements: Shaun Murray, Rod McNaughton, Drew Rudkin, Ben Cornwall, Fin Ogden